Executing Signature Strategies (SAP Library - SAP ArchiveLink - Scenarios in Applications (BC-SRV-ARL))

Executing Signature Strategies

Use

You use this procedure for batch record approval if several individual signatures defined in a signature strategy are required to approve the record.

If a signature process has already been started by someone else and you want to cancel it for some reason, you can withdraw the signatures executed so far (see Canceling Signature Processes).

Prerequisites

A signature strategy has been assigned to the material to which the batch record belongs in your plant (see Customizing for Batch Records).

You have logged on to the system under your own user name. The system sets this name as the signatory name. You cannot overwrite it.

You have called the function for approving batch records and are on the dialog box for executing a signature strategy (see Approving Batch Records).

The Signatures to be executed section contains an individual signature that may be executed by your authorization or user group (see authorization object C_SIGN_BGR Authorization Group for Digital Signatures in your authorization profile).

You have not yet executed a signature for this batch record or its current version.

If the same authorization or user group is used more than once in a signature strategy, the individual signatures must be executed by different members of the group.

Procedure

Enter your comment in the text field.

Select the individual signature that is assigned to your authorization group in the Signatures to be executed section.

If you use the user signature as your signature method, make sure that the system can access your Personal Security Environment (PSE).

How you do this, depends on your security product. If you use a smart card reader, for example, insert your smart card in the reader.

Enter your password and choose Continue.

The system checks the following:

Whether you are authorized to execute the individual signature

Whether your entries match the data in your user master record
Whether your entries match the data in your PSE (if you use user signatures)

Depending on the result of this check, processing is continued as follows:

If you do not have the required authorization or your entries are invalid, or if the system cannot access your PSE, the system takes you back to the dialog box where you can execute your signature again (steps 2 to 4).

The function is canceled after a certain number of unsuccessful attempts that can be defined specifically for each customer. Your user is locked and you cannot execute another digital signature. If a system signature is used, you are even locked against logging on to the system again.

If your entries are correct, the system takes you back to the batch record.

Save the batch record.
If the batch record has status Partially archived (and not Archived), further individual signatures must be executed according to the signature strategy. Notify the person who must execute the next individual signature. This person must now initiate the following steps:

He or she must log on to the system under his or her user name.

He or she must call the function for approving batch records (see Approving Batch Records).

He or she must carry out this procedure for the next individual signature.

Result

If a release status of the signature strategy was reached and no further signatures are required, the batch record is assigned status Approved.

For batches whose material master record specifies that an approved batch record is required (Work scheduling view), you can now do the following:

Take the usage decision for the incoming inspection lot of the batch
Change the batch status from Restricted to Unrestricted